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Social media can connect you with
customers, but only if it's used effectively. A survey from Manta, an online business
community, found that while more companies used social media
in 2012 than the year before, only around 40 percent saw a
return on their investment. Luckily, simple steps can help
ensure you get the most for your time and money. We talked
with three social media experts for easy-to-implement
approaches that can help increase both engagement and
efficiency.

1. Get your social profiles in shape. Mana
Ionescu, president of Lightspan Digital in Chicago
estimates that many small businesses could waste around an hour a
day brainstorming the perfect tweet or post. To overcome this
roadblock, her agency developed the Daily Social Media Workout, a list of very
specific tasks, such as retweeting two interesting tweets and
sharing two photos, so businesses have an action plan and can
learn best practices along the way. One client, Gateway for Cancer Research in Schaumburg,
Ill., grew its Facebook fans by 166 percent in 8 months
with the tool and consistent social media work, and quadrupled
its Twitter followers. Ashlee Landis, marketing specialist for
Gateway for Cancer Research, says she uses the list each day
to help her search for content more efficiently and post
information that fans and post content that engaged followers,
saving the group 3-4 hours a week. She says, "It encourages
working smarter instead of harder."

Coyote Logistics, another client, found similar results after
using the tool for organization and topic coverage. After
eighteen months, the company previously had no social presence
grew to 2,300 Twitter followers and more 2,400 Facebook fans.

2. Set it and (nearly) forget it. By using free
scheduling tools, businesses can set up tweets, posts and pins in
advance, maximizing time online and ensuring that accounts aren't
get neglected on busy days, says John DeLuca, social media
manager at Fusion92 in Arlington Heights, Ill. Tools
such as HootSuite allow users to see streams from
multiple networks simultaneously, saving users from switching
between accounts and helping them better track posts across
platforms. DeLuca also recommends Netvibes and Feedly as RSS reader tools for quickly
finding and organizing content to share online, saving
precious minutes that can be used for social strategizing or
running some other aspect of your business.

3. Offer a freebie -- strategically. Rather than
spend $3,000 on a direct mail piece (with a 1 percent conversion
rate), Joe Chura suggested its client Fisher Auto in Boulder, Colo.
trade oil changes for Facebook "Likes" and opt-ins to the
company email. Chura, the chief executive officer of Launch Digital Marketing says investing
money into giveaways online can increase both revenue and
exposure. The dealership received 300 Facebook likes, a 30
percent boost, resulting in $2,700 in free oil changes and
$6,000 in additional sales during those visits. The promotion
was ready in four hours instead of the several weeks needed to
produce, print and mail a direct mail piece.

Giveaways can be tricky, of course, and should be planned
carefully, with clear starts and ends, following Facebook contest
guidelines. During the Fisher Auto promotion, giveaway recipients
were required to make appointments for the oil change so the
dealership could effectively manage traffic. But planning still
requires content your readers want. "I always tell people to give
away their most popular product or even a free consultation,
since that will most likely drive the most interest in your brand
and your promotion," Chura says.